Preventing forest fires through barangay-based systems

Aguid, Sagada

March is National Fire Prevention Month.  Must be that March is a time when mountain fires are at their alarming occurrence that its fire prevention month. March is also now a time when El Nino with its dry spell is at its most threatening. Water is getting scarcer. And with these twin disasters going on, prevention is a need.     

Weather is hot and pine needles are crackling much ready to get burned at the slightest threat of a match stick or a smoking cigarette.

In Mountain Province, hectares and hectares of mountain sites were already burned in Sagada, Bauko, Tadian and Bontoc to add to fires in Itogon.

More than 140,000 hectares of forest in different locations in the Cordillera have been burned the past three months.

Trees got burned, Plants scorched. And so with insects and animals not fast enough to run, they died. Water tubes got burned. Water source is threatened. People died too as noted in mountain fires at Itogon and Tadian.  Houses located in mountainous areas are threatened of getting burned. Biodiversity is threatened. Mountains look brown, scorched black and dead.

In 2016 only, the Bureau of Fire Protection-Cordillera region recorded 178 forest fire incidents that damaged some 6,100 hectares of forest reservations. This meant the destruction of bio diversity and the loss of water. What more in the present.

Watersheds cradle the very source of water. Mountains are sources of livelihood, of fuel, of food. Mountains fan fresh breeze to a community. Mountains make life bearable.  

Mountains hold water and slowly emit these for drinking water, for domestic water. Mountains hold the springs, the location of water falls.

Mountains are sources of livelihood. Mountains are the very site for trekking and tourism. Forests are sources of rattan and trees for furniture and cottage industries. Mountains are sourced for timber for fuel for housing and rituals.Coffee trees too are found in mountains.

There is a need to prevent the occurrence of mountain fires through the establishment of barangay-based anti-fire brigades.  

Barangay-based systems are necessary with the support of local government and government agencies which have the resources. Backed with the involvement of people with their individual participation, sectoral based organizations and the local government in the community it’s very possible to prevent mountain fires,

Forest fires can be prevented in the making of fire breaks, clearing of mountains some months before February hits the year. And to include advocacy through education in formal and informal venues. It is also very necessary that municipalities and barangays most especially have their own ordinances in the prevention of forest fires and the nurture of the mountains.       

Involved people, availability of resources, advocacy, and a system is necessary.

Resources means availability of digging and cleaning tools to make fire breaks, Bantay Gubat rangers are employed. Anti-fire gears are available including fire trucks.  To include resources in the conduct of advocacy on the protection and nurture of mountains  in schools, sectoral organizations, churches, government institutions,barangays with the support of the media. 

Where the cultural practice of people in going out to put out forest fires is not present anymore due to already complicated reasons, the attitude to nurture mountains needs to be regained in each and every person in the community.